


Sigh No More

by thekatthatbarks



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23762563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekatthatbarks/pseuds/thekatthatbarks
Summary: “Sai, you’re exhausted.”“I didn’t take you for someone who stated the obvious, Sakura.”“Get on my back.”“I don’t need you to carry me.”“Just get on my back. Don’t you want to get home sooner? I am more than capable of carrying you.”“I am well aware of that.”“Sai, please just let me take care of you.”
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Sai
Comments: 11
Kudos: 170





	Sigh No More

**Author's Note:**

  * For [amako](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amako/gifts).



Sai was dragging his feet. He knew his pace was slowing them down but he could barely convince his legs to walk, let alone run. The fight had worn him down and all he could think about was collapsing on top of a sleeping bag whenever they stopped for camp.

Sakura noticed, because of course she noticed. He’d learned over the years, few things got by her. Not with her eyes scanning over him, checking for injuries and whatever else. She always found whatever she looked for. He hadn’t ever really been able to hide from her.

“Sai, you’re exhausted.”

He sighed and didn’t meet her eyes, keeping his on the road in front of them. “I didn’t take you for someone who stated the obvious, Sakura.”

She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm. He went easily towards her, whether it was because of his weakened state or simply that he’d always let her move him around as she liked. “Get on my back.”

Even in his twenties, Sai was still working through developing a personality for himself. Figuring out emotions and things he believed in. But he at least knew he had some pride.

He shook his head but didn’t jerk out of her hold. “I don’t need you to carry me.”

Sakura stopped walking and Sai swayed as his own feet stopped. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Just get on my back. Don’t you want to get home sooner? I am more than capable of carrying you.”

“I am well aware of that,” Sai agreed without pause, wondering if this was going to be one of those moments she got angry instead of proud at him commenting on her outrageous strength.

But she only softened – he remembered, she hadn’t gotten angry about it in years – and tugged on his arm. Sai felt his heart rate pick up and knew at least enough about himself that it didn’t have anything to do with some random injury. She gave him a long-suffering sigh and smiled. “Sai, please just let me take care of you.”

It was hard to deny her, and he moved to climb on to her back. Sakura straightened up easily, adjusting him to a comfortable position and began walking again. Sai wrapped his arms loosely around her neck and leaned his head against hers. He thought about instances he’d seen like this, in books, in movies, on the street. They were doing it for practicality and efficiency, but Sai couldn’t help but find the comfort in it, the safety.

He sighed into her hair and told her, “I’m sorry. I wish I had enough chakra to summon one of my ink drawings to carry me.”

She laughed and Sai could feel it vibrate through her chest and back. “I really don’t mind, Sai.”

They drifted into a comfortable silence and then he commented, trying for something like a joke, “You know, usually when I see people like this, it’s the man carrying the woman.”

He didn’t think about the implications until after he spoke, a thread of panic lacing his ribs.

But Sakura only replied back in a soft voice, “Well, I don’t think we’ve ever been ordinary, Sai.”

Sai supposed he couldn’t argue with that and felt his heart settle back down. He tightened his arms around Sakura without thinking.

***

Sai caught her as she was about to fall. The feel of his arms coming around her seemed to snap her out of it and Sakura stood up straighter. Sai didn’t pull his hands away though, keeping them steady on her hips with how much she was still leaning into him.

“Sai? What’re you doing?”

He smiled at her, hoping it looked as genuine as it felt. “Stopping you from passing out to the ground? I was walking by and…” He shrugged, trailing off.

Sakura sighed and leaned back into his chest tiredly. Sai felt like something lodged in his throat and he glanced behind them at the hospital. The doors just feet from them where Sakura had just come out. “You know, you should probably stay and sleep here if you’re just going to pass out from exhaustion on your way home.”

Sakura chuckled and hit him lightly in the chest. “Didn’t take you for a mother hen, Sai.”

“Just telling you to have some common sense, Sakura.” It was a little rude he realized too late but Sakura only snorted.

“I had a long surgery. I didn’t realize I was so tired.”

Sai nodded and grabbed her arm to pull around him. She raised an eyebrow at him but let him pull her closer. He tried to not think about how good that felt. “What’re you doing?”

“Returning the favor.”

Sakura smiled and shook her head but let Sai pull her on to his back. She was light and Sai carried her with ease down the street. Her arms were locked around his neck and Sai felt her nuzzle tiredly into the side of his neck. He swallowed, feeling his heart beat off rhythm. Sakura may have been light, but Sai didn’t think he’d ever been so conscious of the weight of someone before.

He smiled when he reached her door and she didn’t get down, simply pulling her key out of her pocket and handing it to him. Sai adjusted her before unlocking the door and carrying her through it. She didn’t say anything as he gently took off her sandals and dropped them to the floor beside his own as he kicked them off.

The apartment was dark but he found his way easily, having been there more than a few times. He expected her to drop to the floor once they entered her bedroom but she didn’t. Sai called out to her softly, turning his head but he couldn’t see her face through the curtain of pink hair. “Sakura?”

She shifted against him, her arms tightening around him as she turned her face into his shoulder.

She was asleep.

A tight noose wrapped around Sai’s chest at the fact and he had to take a deep breath to center himself. He knew Sakura trusted him, cared for him, considered him one of her close people. But the amount of trust he felt at her falling asleep on his back was somehow still shocking. Overwhelming and such a wonderfully heavy feeling to have. Sai had never thought he’d have that.

He moved her to the bed, trying to not wake her as he slipped off her coat and headband. He laid her down and pulled the blankets around her. He leaned back afterwards, watching her turn her face into the pillow with a sleepy sigh. The moonlight was sneaking through her window and falling across her face. Her pink hair fanned out across the pillow in a mess, her lips parting slightly as she breathed, her small hands gripping at the pillow. Sai found her incredibly beautiful and it wasn’t for the first time.

His feet felt like lead, but he forced them to step back knowing it would be inappropriate to loiter in her apartment any longer. But as he tore his eyes away from her, a hand caught his wrist. He looked back to her as she tugged. A tired smile graced her lips and he knew she was still half asleep as he only caught a slip of green before she closed her eyes again. Her voice was a soft sigh, “Stay.”

He didn’t pull away from her, but he hesitated, his pulse pounding in his ears. “Sakura…”

She pulled more insistently on him and Sai consented with a smile. “Give me a moment.”

Her hand fell away from him at his voice. Sai slipped off his headband and the gear he had on, they fell to her floor with quiet thuds before he climbed into the bed with her.

Her back was to him and it was another thing that made his throat feel like it was closing up. He didn’t know if he’d ever get over these small signs of trust, not having felt them often before his teenage years. If he hadn’t already felt a range of emotions, he did when Sakura reached back for his arm and pulled it around her.

Sai nervously pulled her back to his chest and held her close, leaning his head against the back of hers. Sakura sighed contently and covered the hand he had on her stomach.

Sai closed his eyes and fell asleep as he counted the beats of his racing heart.

***

Sakura had pulled him out of the bed and into the kitchen for breakfast like it was perfectly normal, like they did this every day. Sai’s mind overflowed with questions and his tongue itched to ask them but the anxiety that coiled in his stomach refused to let him. He followed her without fault and helped her prepare a small breakfast for them, listening to her hum happily as she cooked.

He’d mindlessly been watching her flip pancakes in a pan as he leaned against the wall. His eyes followed her fingers as she turned the flame off and then she was moving towards him. He looked up to meet her eyes and felt nervous when he couldn’t read her expression.

She smiled at him and stepped close to him, a hand on his chest. She raised an eyebrow at him in question and Sai’s eyes begged her to voice it because there were some moments he was terrified of misreading and this was one of them.

Sakura’s hand moved up slowly to the base of his neck and Sai felt his breath catch when her skin touched his. Her voice was quiet, warm and soft like her humming. “Sai, is this okay?”

He nodded and her fingers grazed his jaw as they moved to the back of his head. He found it hard to look away from her eyes, watching him – always looking at him for a reaction, a reading. He was so aware of the hand in his hair and that deep green that he didn’t even realize his hand had reached out for her waist.

Sakura angled his head down and Sai let her guide him without question until his forehead was against hers. Her smile made him as breathless as her voice was as she asked him, “Do you want this?”

It was an easy answer and Sai didn’t think it was necessary to voice it.

He leaned forward to press his lips against hers, closing his eyes. The moment was both quick and long. He brought his hands up to hold her face and Sakura’s covered them. He kissed her again with a little more confidence and Sai knew he’d never be able to forget the sigh that fell from her lips.


End file.
